Pressed-metal vehicle door



Aug. 26, 1930.

vJ. LEDNINKA 'PRESSED METAL VEHICLE DOOR I Filed Jan. 8, 1927 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR- JOSEPH LEDWINKH FIG. '7

' v ATTORNEY.

J. LEDWINKA PRESSED METAL VEHICLE DOOR Aug. 26, 1930.

Filed Jan. 8, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

FIG. 4

JOSEPH LEDWINKA A TTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 26, 1930 vehicle bodies and more-particularly such a,IVUN'ITIED STATES JOSEPH LEDW ATENT "o Fic BU'DD U ACTURING COMPANY, OFPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A, 00320 3420101: orPn NsYLvA IA v InREssEn-Niirn.

Application filed January 8,

This invention relates to doors for closed door made out of pressedsteelstampings.

It is an object of my invention to construct such a door along lines andcontours espec ally adapted for construction in steel, as (115'tinguished'from a door primarily designed for construction in wood, toconstruct it with a minimum number of parts, and to provide a doorhaving unitary sub-assembly parts which may be readily united in thefinal assembly with a minimum-of time and labor. It

'is a further object of my invention toproduce a door which is as lightas may be consistent with adequate strength and that is particularlyadapted to be reduced to its final form with greater accuracy of dim'enssion than has heretofore been attained in the I quantity production ofmetal doors, and, fur- 'thermore, a door which is constructed tocooperate without a special formation on the lock rail of the door tocenter. itself in the door frame or the body to which it'is applied.

These objectsI attain by constructing a door insuch manner that theprincipal parts thereof are formed by a relatively few stampingoperations; for example, I find it most convenient to form the outer andthe inner portions of the doors-of two main stampings of relativelylight gauge sheet metal. These main stampings constitute not only,respec tively, the outer and the inner panels ofthe doors, but what ismore, they constitute also the major portions of the side, top and bottom rails,,and in the case of both outer and ,inner panel stampings andparticularly, the

inner stamping, I form thereon an integral garnish rail around thewindow openings 1 am, of course, aware that it has heretofore beenproposed to form the outer and the drawing and stamping operations,without tearing the metal andtherefore, without any piecing or weldingoperations, to form the inner panel stamping so as to provide a largepart ofthe door structure which ordinarily is constituted by a number ofseparate elements suitably joined together. In fact, the total number ofparts entering into the door of my invention is reduced to about fromonehalf to one-third of the parts heretofore required. In this way, Inot only can save a substantial portion of the usual cost of productionby decreasing the number of parts and operations, but I enhance theappearance of the door by thus eliminating substantially allwelding'marks and by providing a continuous unitary beading orgarnishmentaround the window opening'on both sides of the door. Theouter panel need not depart widely :from-the accepted manner offormprises the'glass run channels and transverse connecting elementstherefor above and below the window opening of the door. The manner inwhich this unit is constructed and KA, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,AssIGNon 'ro EDWARD G.

used, in the final assembly of the door, to join together the outer andinner panel constructions particularly above the belt line, is anotherradical departure from the present accepted practice, and permits thefinal assembly to be effected with a negligible number of weldingoperations, yet the final resuit is an unusually strong, rugged door,one which is light in weight, accurate in dimension and'presents a mostpleasing appearance. The door forming the subject of this invention isparticularly adapted for use with the novel body shown and described andclaimed in.my application filed of even date here-" with, Serial No.159,827, and entitled Pressed metal vehicle body. With the hereinbeforementioned and other objects in view, my invention resides in theconstructions and arrangement of parts disclosed in the drawings forminga part of this specification, described in the following detaileddescription, and pointed out in the appended claims oftheZ provides thedoor overlap. At the Fig. 1 is an outside elevation on a very muchreduced scale of the complete door of my invention. I r

Fig. 2 is an inside view of the outside panel stamping or unit.

- Fig. 3 is an outside View of, the inside panel stamping or unit.

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the glass run channel unit.

- Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 11 are,'respectively, detail sectional viewson an enlarged scale, the'sections being taken on the corre spondinglynumbered section lines of the section lines.

described as they appear before final assembly, and as shown and 4.

,The outer panel 20 is substantially flat in contour throughout its mainbody and isprovided around itsperiphery with an inwardly-extendingflange 21; In its upper portion it is formed with the window opening 22and around this window opening it is formed with an inward-sweepincurve, as at 23, broken near its outer portlon by a shallow depression24 which, while addingto the appearance of the door, formsalso a sideand top of the, door, as will present y be described. The inner portionof the curve 23 extends almost at right angles to the plane of the doorand terminates in a lateral flange 25 extending parallel to the plane ofthe door. y Y x The inner panel stamping .26 is a deep drawn stamping,the main body 27 of which is offset inwardly substantially the thicknessof the door from its peripheral edge. At

the hinge side, this peripheral or side rail portion is formed. ofsubstantial Z-section, the web 28 of the Z forming the jamb face of thedoor, the main bodyof the panel, the inner arm of theZ, and the 'outerarm rlock' side, the corresponding peripheral or side rail portion ofthe inner panel stamp ing is of double 2 shape, and the webs 29.

.and 30 of the Zs extend at, right angles to the plane'of the door andis constituted by the jamb'face thereof. The inner arm of the inner Zconstitutes the main body 27 of the panel, and the outer arm 31 of theouter Z constitutes the door overlap; the inter- The varioussub-assembly units which go. tomake up the completed door will first bedetached 'in Figs. 2, 3

useful function especially along the bin e mediate arm 32, common to thetwo Zs, forms a door stop shoulder adapted to engage a correspondingshoulder on the adjacent door frame of the vehicle:

In its upper portion, the inner or frame 0 panel 26is, like the outerpanel 20, formed with a window opening of correspondingdimensions, andit. is around this window opening that the inner panel is modified togarnish or trim it completely around the opening without the necessityof providing a separate garnish rail or rails for thepurpose. To thisend the side rail portions, both onthe hinge and on thelocksides, are

formed at their inner portions with a smoothly-rounded inner bend 33,the inner side of which extends inwardly (with respect to the plane ofthe door) and terminates in a lateral flange 34 similar to flange 25 ofthe outer panel and, like it, extending 35 substantially parallel to\the 'plane of the door. The top rail portion 34 of the inner panelstamping is formed like the side rail portion thereof above the beltline, as will be evident from a comparison of Figs. 5 and 6, but thehorizontal or web portion of the Z is formed at its middle portion witha slot 35 to permit the insertion and removal of the window glass. Atthe bottom of the window opening the upper edge of the main body 27 ofthe stamping 26 is likewise formed with the bend 33'andthelaterally-extending edge flange 34, it being thus apparent that this'bend or bending or integral garnish rail" 33 and the edge flange 34 arecontinuous around the window opening.

To permit the deep stamping to be the more readily formed at thecorners, the rails are, atthese points, joined-by curves of relativelylarge radius, the radius of curvature of which varies, being largestadjacent the inner face bf the doonan'd decreasing toward theouter face,thereby providing an inclined curved outer surface, as 35', at the uppercorners of the'stamping. Similar inclined surfaces 35 are formed atthe'lower {corners of the door stamping 26.

When the door is finally assembled and mounted in place on the body withwhich it is adapted to be used, the'inclined rounded corners 35"at thetop and bot-tom of the door coact with means arranged in the similarlyrounde corners of the .door frame of the body, which means are-morefully described and claimed in my application filed of even 12 0 dateherewith and hereinbefore referred to, to center the-door in the frameand to prevent rattling. This obviates the necessity of providing aspecial dovetail, as usual, on the lock side of the'door.

At its lower edge, the stamping 26 is formed into a bottom railof'Z-section, the web of the Z 36 inclining downwardly and outwardly tomatch up with a corresponding threshold frame on the body on which thedoor is adapt- "being joined above and below the window ed to bemounted, and the outer arm j37'of the side portions 39 and 40 of thisframe, the opposite-side walls of the channels 39 and 40 opening by thepairs of spaced cross members numbered, respectively, 41 and 42.The'members of each pair are formed as separate stampings spaced apart adistance equal substantially t0 the width of the glass run chan-. nelsso as to permit free movement of the window glass between them. The pairof cross members 41 above the window opening are carried around thecorners of the frame and terminate, as shown in Fig. 112,insubstantially fiat ends 43, 43, which lap over and are welded to thesides of ,the channels 39 and 40. The corners of the frame are, ofcourse,

I rounded on arcs of relatively large radius in a manner correspondingto the corners of the ends of the cross members by openings in the outerand inner panel stampings 20 and 26. The pair of cross members '42 arealso joined at their ends to the sides of the channels 39 and which arewidened at 44 to provide the rounded corners of the WlIldow opening ofthe frame andjoined at the welding alongthe lines 45, 45. v

Atitheir lower ends the channels 39 and 40 are provided with the windowstop stampings 46 secured thereto'by spot welding.

As is clearly shownin Figures 6, 8 and 12, the sides of the channels 39and 40 are provided, at somedistance removed from their. edges, withoutwardly-bulging beads or. shoulders 46 which extend along the sides ofthe window opening. These beads or shoulders or their equivalentsareconti fiuou's around plane of the glass are,

the window opening of the frame, being continued around the uppercorners and across the top of the pair of cross members 41 which as isclearly shown in Fig. 5, of channel cross section. andarranged facingeach other,

1 the lower side 47 of the channels' corresponding to the shoulders 46.The beads or shoulders 46 are carried around the lower corners oftheframe and continued across the bottom of the frame by the shoulders 48formed by ofl'sets in the angle cross members 42.

Prior to final assembly, the edges of the continuous frame memberssurrounding the shoulders 46, 47 and48, and the laterally-extendingflanges 49, 50' and 51 are crimped over the edges of these continuousflanges, thebeads or shoulders co-acting with the crimped-over flangesto. form a very secure, 7o locked, crimped-joint for securing the edgesof the panels 20 and 26 to the glass run frame I; 38. The glass runchannel frame is further secured in the final assemblyto the hinge andlock rail portions of the inner panel stamping bywelding the glass runchannels to the said portions. Along the hinge rail I weld the bottom ofthe channel 39 directly to the vweb 28 of the rail. 'Along the lockrail, which is of' double Z-section, I form the channel 40 by so weldingtogether a generally flat stamping 52 s forming one sideof the channeland a generally Z-shaped stamping 52' forming the other side and thebottom of-the channel, the C welded t ogether portion 53 of twothicknesses 5 of metal projecting outwardly of the channel proper andbeing secured asby welding to the common arm 32 of the double Z-sectionrail. Below the window opening the sides of the glass run'channels areformed with an out- .90 ward offset 54 which adds strength tothechannels in this region, just as the beads 46 reinforce thechannelsin their upper positions. The sides of the channel are alsoformed in this region with lateral-reinforcing flanges 55 along theiredges, which flanges are connected at thetop by the correspondingflanges 56 on the cross members 42 The upper cross members'41 aresecuredto thetop'rail 34 respectively on opposite sides'of' the slot 35 by spotwelding their upper sides. 57 thereof J to the top rail 34. Having thusdescribed the manner of j oining' of the glass run channel frame 38 tothe outer and inner panel, stampings 20 and 26,

it remains merely to state that the door is completely assembled by'joining the outer panelt'o the inner panel stamping by 'crimp-- ing'thelateral flange 21 on its outer periphery over the outer door overlaparms of the Z-section top, bottom and side rail portions of the innerpanel stampings as shown clearly in 4 the various sectional viewsthrough the edges I of the door. L 7 n Thus the steps in the finalassembly of the door are, first, the joinder of the glass run channelframe 38 to the inner panel stamping 26 by spot wblding theframe to theside and '-top rail portions of the stamping 26 (relawindow opening,over the continuous flange 25 around the window opening in the outerpanel. The shallow depression 24, formed in the outer panel to enhancethe appearance of the door, has also a' useful mechanical 'function inthat it provides an interior shoulder which coacts along the hinge andtop rails of the door with the crimped-over edge of the panel to providea secure, locked, crimped joint similar to the joint-at the edge of thewindow opening.

From the foregoing description it will be noted that the pressed metaldoor of my invention can be constructed of relatively fewJ- parts, thussaving in die cost and in the number of operations both in formingtheparts and in final assembly; that the assembly of the parts isa-relatively simple operation in- Volving, as it does, for the mainpart, merely clinching operations as distinguished from welding; that,by. reason of thesmall amount of welding in the assembly, outside weldspots are very few or entirely absent and the cost of removing them,therefore negligible or non-existent; that the door presents a l mostpleasing external appearance and that it can be made veryaccurately todimension; that it is so formed at thecorners by deep drawing that nowelding 1s, necessary and that it can be centered without special meansbeing provided either on the hinge rail of the door or the adjacent doorframe member. I claim as my invention the novel manner of forming andassembling the door and the 7 novel construction and arrangement ofparts,

as well as the various unitary sub-assemblies entering into theconstruction of the door, as exemplified by the embodiment of myinvention disclosed herein, and such further modification andalterations thereof as fall within the spiritand scope ottheappendedclaims.

I I claim:

1. In a pressedmetal vehicle doo a unitary inner panel stamping form-inge transverse j'amb face of the door extending entirely around said doorand having a window opening in its upper portion and formed with acontinuous beading or garnish, arched in cross-section, around saidwindow opening providing a finish for'the door around said opening.- 72. In a pressed metal vehicle door having a window opening therein, aside rail structure at said window opening comprising a stamping havinga transversely extending web portion forming thefjamb face of the door,a glass run channel secured directly to the inner face of said webportion, and a panel secured along one edgeto the outer edge ofsaidstamping and along its other edge to the adjacentside of the glassrun a window opening therein, an inner panel member comprised of aunitary sheet metal edge of the panel around the window opening beingsecured to the adjacent side of said glass run channelby crimping theedge of one over the edge of the other.

a 4. Ina pressed metal vehicle door having a -window opening in itsupper portion, a door rail structure at the side of said openingcomprised of .an inner panel, an outer panel, and a glass run channel,the inner panel forming the jamb. face of theidoor and the glass runchannel having its base secured directly to'the inside surface of saidpanel,

the inner portion of the inner panel being bent over and secured to theadjacent side of the glass-run channel, and the outer portion formingthe door overlap, the outer panel being secured along one edge to saiddoor overlap edge of the inner panel and alongits other edge to theadjacent side of the glass run channel, whereby the door rail structureis, in effect, of a double box section construction.

5. In a pressed metal vehicle door having a window opening therein, a'door rail structure at a side of said window opening comprising an innerpanel member shaped to form the jamb face of the door and the dooroverlap arranged at substantially a right angle thereto, a frame membersecured to the inner surface of the portion of said panel member formingthe jamb face of the door and extending laterally therefrom, anouterpanel member having one edge thereof crimped over the door overlapportion of the inner panel member and bent to form a contour depressiontherein which also serves as a clinch-locking shoulder by coacting withthe adjacent portion of the jamb face portion of the inner panel andhaving its other edge secured to said frame member.

6. In a pressed metal vehicle door having a window opening thereima doorrail structure at-a side of said opening comprising a stamping having aportion'forming the amb face of the door, a glass run channel secured tothemner side of the amb face portion,

said stamping further having a portion shaped to. form a garnishment atthe edge of the window opening and having its inner edge turned toextend substantially parallel to the plane of the door and to lieagainstthe adjacent side of theglass run channel and secured thereto bycnimping the edge of the side of the glass runchannel over'said turnededge, and a shoulder formed in the side of the glass run channelco-acting with the crimped edge thereof to lock. said'turned' edgeagainst. movement. v

7 Apressed metal door having a window opening therein comprising a,unitary outer panel stamping, a unitary inner panel stamping and aglass. run'channel frame unit, each of sald elements surroundlng saldwindow opening and being joined together in final asclosed vehicle doorsformed of a unitary sheet metal stamp- 1 ing to provide thelaterally-extending peripheral portions formingthe jamb faces of thedoor and the outer peripheral flanges extending laterally from said jambface portions, the corner portions joining adjacent jamb face ortionsbeing formed on curves increasing in radius from the outer edgesof thejamb faces to the inner.

'9. An inner panel unit for closed vehicle doors formed of. a unitarysheet metal stamp ing and provided around the window openingwith a deepdrawn portion arched in cross section providing, in the completed door,a continuous garnish rail forming a finish for the inner portion of thewindow opening.

10. An outer panel unit for closed vehicle doors. formed of a singlesheet metal stamping and having anarched section around the windowopening formed with a bars depression to provide garnishment for theoutside of the completed door, said'depression I providing a shoulderonthe opposite side adapted, in the completed door, to abut a portion ofan adjoining unit over'the edge of which the edge of said paneliscrimped in the final assembly.

11. A glass run channel frame 'unit subassembly for pressed metal doorscomprising :opposed glass run channels, the sides of the channels beingunited by pairs of cross memdefining, respectively, the upper and thelower edges of the window opening, the

' sides of the glass run channels and the con-' necting members beingformed with lateral dow opening flanges which are continuous around thewinand serve as final assembly joint formations adapted to coact' withcomplemental formations on adjacent sub-assembly units in the finalassembly of the door.

12. In a pressed metal door for closed vehicle bodies, a top rail havinga webportion slotted to permit the insertion or' removal of the windowglass at the top, and reinforcing frame members of channel form onopposite sides of the slot having a side of the channel secured to-theweb portion of the rail and the Y opposite side of the channel flangedand ar ranged to form a clinched joinder with the adjacent edge,respectively, of an outer and inner panel portion. j I

- 13. glass run channel frame sub-assem- -bly for pressed metal vehicledoors comprising opposed glass run channels and cross of inner and outerpanels, each a; unitary around the window opening stamping extendingentirely aroundthe win- 'dow opening and formed aroundsaid opening witha garnish or beading to form a finish entirely around said opening onboth sides of the door.

15. A door for vehicle bodies having a window opening in its upperportion, com-- prised of inner and outer panels, each a unitary stampingextending entirely around the window opening and curved inwardly aroundi the window opening toward the central plane. of the door andterminating in edge portions forming portions of the window glassguiding means on opposite sides of said glass.

16. A door for vehicle bodies having a window opening in its upperportion comprising a unitary inner panel stamping, a

unitary outer panel stamping and a glass run channel: frame, eachextending entirely around said window 0 ening and being joined in themargin of sai opening by a crimped joinderof each panel edge with acorrespond- I v 105 ing edge of the glass run channel frame,the innerpanel stamping being formed in its peripheral-portion with atransversely extending amb face portion provided in the outer plane ofthe door with a door overlap flange, the peripheral portion of the,outer panel stamping-making a crimped joinder with said flange.

17. 'In a pressed metal vehicle door haying a window'opening therein, adoor rail structure at the side of said opening comprising a stampinghaving a portion form the ]amb face of the door, a glass run secured tothe innenface of said ]amb face portion, said stamping further having aportion arched in section and forming garnishment at the edge of thewindow opening and'havin its inner edgeportion extending substantia 1yparallel to the plane/of the door and lying againstthe adjacent side ofthe glass run and secured' thereto by crimping the edge of one over theedge of the other, and a shoulderon one of said members cooperating withsaid crimped over edge to lock the crimped edges against relativeshifting movement.

18' A. glass run channel frame sub-assemfull length thereof to allow 60bly for pressed'metal vehicle doors comprising opposed. glass runchannels united by cross members extending between at least one of thesides of said channels and forming with extending around a windowopen1ng,.said continuous flange being further adapted to serve as afinal assembly joint formation arranged to'cooperate with complement'aledge formations on an adjacent sub-assembly panel unit in the finalassembly-of the door.

' 19. A pressed metal door having a jamb rail provided .with an offsetforming a shoulder. intermediate the outer and inner faces of the door,and a glass run channel comprising two angular strips secured togetherthrough adjacent arms of 'the respec-tive strips andto.

the rail through said shoulder. V

20. apressed metal door for Vehicle to permit the insertion or removalof. the win-' dow glass at the top, and a reinforcing frame member ofangular form having one arm secured to the web portion of the rail alongone panel having'a window opening therein, inso tegral side and endfaces perpendicular to the main surface thereof, and integral flangeserpendicular to the outer surfaces of said aces, the metal of said framepanel at the sides of said wihdow opening being bent inwardly and thenperpendicularly to saidxside faces 0 forni an abutment face, and afacing panel or said door having a window czipening therein in matchingrelation with sai opening in said frame panel provided with inturnedmarginal edges secured to the flanges on said frame panel, the metal ofsaid facing eing bent inwardly and then parallel to the abutment face onsaid frame member to proreceiving a window.

22 A vehicle .door comprising an inner panel having a window openingtherein, intependicular to the main body thereof, andPintegral flangesperpendicular to said side and end portions, an outer panel for saiddoor ving its marginal edges secured to said flanges of 'the inner paneland inturned edges forming a finish around said window opening in spacedrelation to said inner aving a slot formed therein substantial y theassembled to saiddoor in the spacegbetween said inner and out rpanels. r

23. A vehicle door comprising an innerpanel having a window openingtherein, integral side and end portions substantially per- 35 pendicularto;the main body thereof, and

said channel sides a continuous edge flange bodies, a top rail having aweb portion slotted vide with said abutment face achannel for end faces,the metal of said panel at the top being bent inwardly and thenlaterally parallel to the body of said panel to provide a window rail,andan outer panel having a window rail in matching relation to saidopening in said'inner panel having its marginal edges clinched over theflanges of said inner panel, the metal of said outer panel at the top ofsaid window opening being bent inwardlywandthe n laterally parallel tothe main body of said panel to provide a Window rail parallel to andspaced from said window rail of said inner panel, whereby a window glassmay be assembled to said door in the space between said rails.

24. An inner panel unit for closed vehicle doors formed of a'unitarysheet/metal stamping and providedwith a square cornered F edge flan geportion for joinder to an outer panel, and transversely extending sideand end jamb face corners. J 1

25. inner panel unit for closed vehicle doors having a window openingtherein and formed of a unitary sheetmetalstamping and portions joinedby rounded provided with a square-cornered edge flange portion fofjoinder to an outer panel and a transversely extending round-corneredjamb face portion, the jamb face portion being reversely bent at dowopening.

26. A door for vehicle bodies having a win dow opening comprised ofinner and outer panels, each a unitary stamping extending entirelyaround the window opening and the sides and top of the. winturnedinwardly around the window opening toward the central plane of the door,at least one of said anels terminating in an edge portion providingportions of the window glass guiding means. anel at the sides of saidwindow opening.

In testimony JOSEPH L'EDWINKA.

a windowto be v

